Rebates suck!

[joker_927]

Date Received--- 09-24-2003
Status---- Processing Rebate
Status Detail--- Your rebate is valid and is in the final stages of processing and should be sent to you within the next 30 days.

Umm... It's the 4th of November people! where is my rebate!?

Seems par for the course, atleast for me. I still have rebates floating from six months ago.

[Target]

Yep, gotta agree with Rob, seems par for the course.... BTW, I have some floating out there from several years back... pretty sure I'll never see them.

I seriously try to never let the "after rebates" price effect my purchasing decisions...simply because I assume I have a 50-50 chance of ever seeing them.

Bingo regarding the 50/50 odds. When I purchase an item, I consider the rebate to be extra money. I never make a purchase with the intention of actually receiving a rebate, as the whole rebate process is too risky (or way overloaded!).

[shahani]

Staples rebates are very reliable. I have not lost one in last 2 years. And that is 115 rebates. You have to keep track of them and call them if they reject or don't send it. They are so good that they immediately validate you even without xerox copies.

Office Max is good also. They too validate your rebate should it be rejected.

You have to track them. I write down all details on my spreadsheet and track them as I go along. With Staples, they send you a confirmation of validity also so if I don't hear from them I call their 800 number.

I may have lost one or two CompUSA rebates out of total 200 or more in last 2 years.

And I'm not the luck kind.

[John Prophet]

Well that is the part of the rebate they might get me on cuz I dont track it much after I see it is approved, lol.

If you do a lot of rebates you need an excel spreadsheet or something....when you do a rebate you just jot down when you sent it,,,,when you see it approved...when you are SUPPOSED to receive it...and when you DO receive it.

One of those things Ill do "when I get a round tuit"

[Target]

Glad to hear that you are having good luck with the rebates Shahani.

I've had issues receiving rebates from pretty much every retailer I have used... Staples, Office Max, Best-Buy, etc. Best-Buy purchases have been by far the worst for me though (I was being generous when I said 50-50 odds). I'm lucky if I get one third of my rebates on goods purchased through Best-Buy.

[osprey4]

I guess we at TechIMO have a love/hate relationship with rebates. We love them in Online Deals and we hate them in Community.

Shahani, your rebate fulfillment rate should get you into the TechIMO Hall of Fame (and I suspect JP's will as well).

[John Prophet]

Mine rocks!! After I got burned on 2 of them very early on....a clicksmart camera and a Msoft basic mouse. I bought the bs hype of whatever rejection notice they used at the time..assuming I must have made some mistake.

Then it happened again on another product, but I had kept copies this time and I looked back at it and figured out thei rlittle scheme, lol.

Since then Ive only lost one and it was because I looked at it wrong and went past the time to send it in....it was a biggy though, ouch $165 peachtree,,,stinger.

You just have to have it click in your mind that IT'S YOUR MONEY..end of story....its not a lottery...its not a coin toss...its a CONTRACT. End of story.

JP

[Bovon]

I don't go the rebate route anymore...if I need an item, I buy it OEM..if the store has an instant rebate and / or a coupon..that is great.

Sony still owes me for two factory rebates...one dating back 4 years...I think I can safely write that one off...huh!!